March 28, 2022
Retail investor appetite for alternative investments—particularly commercial real estate—is bigger than ever, compelling RIAs to establish relationships with real estate investment firms. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement—by working with real estate sponsors, RIAs can give their clients a broader range of investment products, and sponsors can efficiently access trillions of dollars in investment capital.
San Francisco-based Ashfield Capital Partners, an employee-owned independent RIA, has been working with real estate sponsors for several years. It currently serves more than 100 high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth families and has roughly $2 billion under management.
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The firm’s objective to deliver the best risk-adjusted and tax-adjusted returns to its clients requires a highly customized approach, says Adrian Fadrhonc, chief compliance officer and portfolio manager for Ashfield Capital Partners. “Since everybody’s situation is different, we must have a full quiver of arrows, including direct access to real estate investments.”
Ashfield Capital Partners works with several real estate sponsors to meet that firm-wide objective. “We’re very judicious about who we work with, and we really try to find excellent real estate sponsors,” Fadrhonc notes. “Once we find them, do the due diligence and have a good experience, we keep going back to them.”